<p>Last Thursday I was diagnosed with Acid Reflux causing tons of mucus in my throat. I've been taking Nexium once a day since then as well as a total of 4 Mucinex pills a day. While it may has improved slightly, I still feel like no big change has occured in the quality of my voice. I still have a mild "lump" in my throat and I'm worried about my audition coming up on Monday.</p>
<p>Singing hasn't become difficult or anything, but I'm worried schools might hear the fuzz in my voice and think I'm damaging it. I'm wondering if anyone has any other tips to get rid of the mucus in my throat? Will the Nexium I'm taking take bigger affect within the next few days?</p>
<p>I ultimately want to know if I should cancel my Monday audition and re-schedule (it is a school I could easily do that), or if my Acid Reflux will be significantly better?</p>
<p>Hi Alf,
For some reason acid reflux is very common amoung singers. As far as how long it will take for things to heal up, I imagine that varies from person to person, you might call your health care provider. Also you have a PM</p>
<p>I have acid reflux! It drives me insane. For me the biggest problem is chest pressure and the constant need to clear my throat. What helps the most is eating! Absorbent foods like bread and cereal because my stomach can't be empty. I don't even feel hungry sometimes but I make myself eat something to absorb the acid in my stomach. Steaming helps a lot with the mucus, and also just staying calm! Nerves make it so much worse for me. Then I drink a lot of tea, always wear a scarf around my neck, don't sit/lie down in certain positions, avoid citrus, dairy, fatty foods, chocolate, mint, caffeine, etc. </p>
<p>I still face a lot of problems with it and it's such a hassle. I take Prevacid 30 mg once a day.</p>
<p>I'm switching to Pravacid in about a month or two, but waiting for the biggest symptoms to go away first. I'm just wondering if I should pile on allergy meds incase the mucus is from that as well? </p>
<p>I just feel like I'm taking so many pills as it is!</p>
<p>My D has reflux and takes two Nexium a day. Last year her voice was very horse. She had a stressful junior year and I think it made it worse. If my memory is correct, it took a few weeks for her voice to clear up. You should stay away from mint, caffeine and tomatoes and sleep with the top of your bed elevated. We went to a "voice teacher" who gave her some vocal exercises. However, my D feels its the Nexium that helps the most. She tried to wean herself to one Nexium a day, but felt the reflux getting worse....</p>
<p>Be careful of antihistimines. I think they are supposed to be too drying. You should also drink LOTS of water. Steam sometimes helps with the mucus.</p>
<p>Alfeism, make sure you are using a doc who really understands the way Nexium works (like a gastroenterologist or a good ENT that is accustomed to working with vocal performers). Nexium must be taken a half an hour before a meal to maximize its effectiveness. If you take it after you eat, you lose much of its effectiveness. It also takes time for Nexium to promote healing. It is, however, the "gold standard" of anti reflux meds.</p>
<p>Well, the MAIN problem is I don't notice my Reflux. A lot of people talk about "trigger foods" or whatever else, but the only REAL reason I felt I needed to go to the doctor was because I'm a singer and the mucus was a bother. I don't get heartburn. And while I DO seem to burp a lot, I've been eating excessively healthy and "correct" this week and I just seems gasier in general. </p>
<p>Does this maybe mean I only have a "mild" case of Reflux?</p>
<p>Nope, it could be but the lack of severe discernible symptoms is not determinative. You could have what's fondly referred to as "silent" acid reflux. There are all sorts of tests that can be done to measure the amount of acid that is produced, to determine "cycles" of production and to visually examine the voice apparatus and esophageal tract so that you know exactly what's going on. If your problems persist after taking the Nexium for another week or so, I would talk to your doc about this.</p>
<p>DD was diagnosed with silent reflux disease, too. To heal the damage she took 2 nexium per day for over 6 months, now down to one for this year. It does have to be up to an hour before you eat. Also she has a list of foods to cut down on, including chocolate, caffeine, red meat, eggs, mints, fried food, maybe cheese and some others I think. Doctor gave her a pamphlet. When she has an audition or performance coming up she is real careful of what she eats for the week ahead of it. The rest of the time she just watches it and does not do too much or too many of those foods at one time. It cleared up almost everything but to be completely clear took a long time, several months at least. .</p>
<p>I have the "silent" acid reflux as well. Actually, it's called Laryngopharyngeal Acid Reflux or LPR. Now don't quote me on this, but I believe the "mucus" you are feeling is actually the acid. The acid is being pushed up passed the esophagus and essentially burning (most likely only a tiny bit) your vocal cords. This causes them to swell, which causes the "fuzzy" sound you're hearing. It might also be possible that only you can hear the "fuzziness" in your voice, and that others won't notice it. That's what happened to me. Again, this is all just from my understanding.</p>
<p>I'm on Nexium once a day, but I double up on audition days. You can also take zantac (aka ranitidine or the equivalent) or peptobismol on top of it if you're having a real problem. Also, definitely google acid reflux and acid reflux foods to look up the foods you should stay away from, regardless as to whether you are experiencing "heart burn" or not.</p>
<p>If you're ENT didn't diagnose you, get to see him right away. Have him scope your cords (there is both a soft scope and a hard one, the hard one really will give you a better idea as to what is going on). Acid reflux can cause all sorts of problems with your vocal cords. Also, if you feel "tightness" in your throat, that's a sign of LPR as well. At least, that was a telltale sign for me. It all depends on the person.</p>
<p>My best advice, go with your gut instinct on moving your audition. The best thing you can do if you're experiencing any discomfort or issues singing (even if it just doesn't "feel right") is go on a day or two of complete vocal rest. The acid makes your vocal cords and the muscles controlling them swell, and the best thing to reduce the swelling is vocal rest. My voice had problems for a month or two even after starting the Nexium. The thing that really got my voice back to where it was before the reflux was a weekend (a full 48 hours) of complete vocal rest.</p>
<p>Actually, the acid can cause the vocal folds to swell b/c of irritation, but reflux also damages the mucus-producing glands located just to the lateral sides of the vocal folds. That causes the thin serous mucus that we all need for vocal fold lubrication to be replaced by thick, "gunky" mucus. So mucus IS a problem that exists with reflux - and it can contribute to an altered sound to your voice.</p>
<p>You have received a lot of advice here, Alfieism, but you really need to go with what YOUR doctor said cause, like Kaitrin says, everyone is different. It CAN take 2 months or so for the reflux meds to kick in in some people. Complete vocal rest needs to be monitored by a laryngologist - b/c you may be having sound quality issues b/c you have developed some very subtle laryngeal muscle squeezing patterns due to the swelling of your vocal folds. Your laryngeal muscles will "automatically" compensate when your vocal folds are swollen and use more muscular force to get those folds together, so a doctor needs to make sure that you aren't doing some of this subtle squeezing. If you are, vocal rest won't help a lot, b/c as soon as you use your voice again, that squeezing pattern will return. Only a laryngologist or a speech pathologist trained and very experienced in voice can call that accurately.</p>
<p>Does it seem strange to anyone else that so many YOUNG kids are having problems with Acid Reflux? I don't ever remembering that being the case.. unless everyone had it and it wasn't diagnosed. </p>
<p>I don't want to open a whole debate, but kids seem to be under incredible stress these days. Or is acid reflux being over diagnosed? Like a general term for everything.</p>
<p>Interesting comment. My observation is that most of the students who state they have acid reflux also state they have been diagnosed by doctors. I wonder if it is a function of stress and lifestyle compounded by a diet that seems to be filled with diet sodas and exotic coffee drinks?</p>
<p>I vote for over diagnosed. (?) Stress (?) OR....
My D went through ALL the above during last year's audition season and then some. She was on Nexuum twice a day, as well as 6 other meds. Nothing seemed to help the constant sore throat and the mucus never seemed to go away. After several allergists and several ENT's she decided that she wanted her tonsils removed. During the summer (before college) she finally convinced the ENT (made sure to let all involved know that she's a singer etc.), and as it turned out she had silent tonsillitis. The ENT had to struggle to remove them as they were VERY inflamed. I'm not recommending this as it was extremely painful just stating her experience. She was really in tune to her body and had had enough! I'm thrilled to say that she is NO longer on 7 meds.</p>
<p>I have been to TWO doctors, one was a general ENT who put me on Nexium, and then I went to a specialist at the Bastian Institute in Chicago which specializes specifically in throat and airway problems, and BOTH doctors seemed to shrug away my Acid Reflux. Both said I had "some redness and a thick mucus that indicates Acid Reflux" as well as mild swellings ("which is nothing to talk about"). The only advice I got was to take Nexium an hour before dinner, but otherwise I felt very lost.</p>
<p>I might just cancel my audition on monday and hope that my voice sounds better before Unifieds, something i just CAN'T reschedule!</p>
<p>I had horrible horrible reflux, and have been on twice a day meds for about 8 months. Stick with it, stay away from the bad foods. It might take a while, but try and persist!! don't clear your throat because that irritates it. Try taking something like Pepcid complete before you go to bed to reduce nighttime reflux.</p>
<p>I know many of you who have been diagnosed with acid reflux say that you do not have heartburn, so it might be hard for you to determine what foods are 'feeding' it. i.e. if you don't feel the burn after you eat something, you may not know that it is doing damage. I do suffer from heartburn, and the worst food I can eat (which I love) is peanut butter. I know my D has been known to eat it with a spoon straight from the jar, so if you are eating a lot of peanut butter, you might try cutting it down or out for a while.</p>
<p>I work with kids with reflux all day long---you should take your Nexium on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. Nexium and the other meds like it (called proton pump inhibitors) take a good 5-7 days to become effective.</p>
<p>Lifestyle issues will exacerbate reflux---you should have no caffiene, no carbonated beverages, eat small frequent meals, do not eat before bed, elevate your head of the bed by about 30 degrees. Avoid high fat foods--fatty meals do not empty from your stomach as quickly so you will be more prone to reflux</p>
<p>If these things do not work ask your doctor/nurse for more advice--some kids need twice daily nexium or a bedtime dose of zantac (to help cover the physiologic 4am acid burst that occurs). Some of patients with alot of mucus do well on Zyrtec--so ask your clinician about this</p>
<p>If none of this works then you need an endoscopy to see if you have esophagitis from the reflux or they may find this is allergy related</p>
<p>If you have swallowinf problems or a lump in your throat you might have pill esophagitis--common in kids on antibiotics for acne like minocycline and doxycline, usually not associated with other drugs</p>
<p>Alfiesm - I know that Bastian Institute has a wonderful reputation. Sounds like you went to the right place. If you can reschedule the audition, I think I would...</p>